Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia
Encyclopedia
Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia was the fifth son of Grand Duke Michael Nikolaievich of Russia and a first cousin of Alexander III of Russia
. He followed a military career and served as General Inspector of the Artillery with the rank of Adjutant General during World War I
. He was murdered by the Bolsheviks along with several other Romanovs relatives at Alapayevsk
on 18 July 1918, one day after the murder of Tsar Nicholas II
and his immediate family at Yekaterinburg
.
, his father’s 200000 acres (809.4 km²) estate 90 miles (144.8 km) from Tiflis. He was the fifth son and sixth child of the seven children of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia
and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna
, born Princess Cecile of Baden. Named Sergei after St. Sergius of Radonezh
, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich spent his early years in the Caucasus
, until 1881 when his family moved to St Petersburg. Raised in strict and militaristic environment, he received little affection from his parents. His father, occupied in military and governmental endeavors, remained a distant figure. His demanding mother was a strict disciplinarian and cold towards her children.
Like his brothers, Sergei Mikhailovich was destined from birth to follow a military career. He was two weeks old when he was enrolled in a military unit that was named after him: the 153rd Infantry Vakusnkii Regiment of HIH Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich.
In 1891, he became aide-de-camp
to the Emperor and in 1899 was promoted to the rank of colonel. In 1904, he was made major general in the House Guards Artillery Brigade of the suite of the Tsar. He replaced his father in 1905 as Inspector General of Artillery, a post he held until 1915 when he was removed under controversy during World War I
. In 1908, he became adjutant General.
In 1914, he was promoted to the rank of General of Cavalry. From January 1916, he served as Field Inspector General of the Artillery until he resigned his military post at the fall of the monarchy.
Sergei Mikhailovich was tall, reaching six foot three, and was the only among Grand Duke Michael Nicholaievich’s children to inherit father’s blue eyes and blond hair. He became prematurely bald and was considered the least handsome of a very good-looking family.
He had a keen sense of the ridiculous, but was pessimistic, as influenced by his tutor Colonel Helmerson. He had the habit of saying “ tant pis!” (so much the worse!) to any bad news. Widely considered rude and moody, he was at the same time sincere, affectionate, loved simplicity and was easily accessible without class distinction.
Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich was, unlike his brothers, interested in mathematics and physics, which coincided with his fondness for artillery.
His only artistic inclination was choral singing, and he formed an amateur chorus of more than sixty voices, including some professional singers. They were directed by Kasatchenko, the master of the Imperial Theater. For a decade, the group met at Sergei’s palace every Monday evening from 8:00 pm to 10:30 pm before the Russo-Japanese War
stopped it.
Like his brothers George and Alexander, Sergei Mikhailovich was also fond of numismatics and gathered a large collection of coins. Like all the Grand Dukes, Sergei was immensely wealthy. Beside his Grand Ducal allowance of 200,000 roubles a year, he received the income from vast personal states, which include a hunting lodge 60 miles (96.6 km) from St Petersburg. At the death of his father in 1909, his wealth increased even further.
He remained a bachelor, living in the household of his father, and later with his eldest brother on the Neva: the new Michaelovsky Palace in St Petersburg. The halls and corridors were so vast that Sergei used a bicycle to visit his brothers Grand Dukes George
and Nicholas Mikhailovich
who lived in other wings of the large Palace.
In the early 1890s, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich was particularly close to his brother Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich
. Traveling together to India, they had to stop their trip in Bombay in 1891 upon the sudden death of their mother. Both brothers fell in love with Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna
, their first cousin, once removed. She chose his brother over Sergei and married Alexander in 1894.
During the last year of Tsar Alexander III
’s reign, Sergei and his brothers Alexander and George Mikhailovich were constant companions of the future Tsar, Nicholas II
. Their closeness ended with Nicholas' ascension to the throne and marriage.
When Nicholas II, then the Tsarevich, broke off with his mistress, the famous ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska
ya, he asked Sergei to take care of her. From 1894, Grand Duke Sergei, who was then 25 years old, became Kschessinskaya’s protector. He provided generously for his mistress. In 1895, the grand duke bought a dacha
for her in Strelna
. Kschessinskaya, who was ambitious, used her connections to the Romanovs to promote her career. Sergei, as president of the Imperial Theatres Society, took an active role in the ballet world to secure a prominent place for Kschessinskaya in the Imperial Ballet. Although Sergei was devoted to Mathilde, she was not in love with him and used him as a tool to fulfill her ambitions. He remained her devoted friend through to the end of his life. He never married and found in Mathilde’s company the substitute of a family life.
In February 1900 Kschessinskaya met, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimorovich
, who was a son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich
, Sergei’s first cousin. Mathilde fell in love with Andrei and soon they started a new relationship. Grand Duke Sergei tolerated their affair remaining a close and loyal friend to the famous ballerina, but the relationship between the two Grand Dukes was tense. They tried to avoid each other while sharing the same woman for almost two decades.
The ménage à trois
became more complicated when on 18 June 1902, Mathilde gave birth to a son. Both Grand Dukes were at first convinced they were the child’s father.
After the Revolution, both Kschessinskaya and Grand Duke Andrei maintained that Andrei was the father, but it was Grand Duke Sergei who looked after Mathilde and her son while he was alive. The child, who became known within the family by his nickname Vova, received the name and patronymic of Vladimir Sergeivich, although no surname was made public until 1911. The birth certificate showed Sergei as the father, and he was devoted to the child. The question of Vladimir’s paternity remains unresolved. However, most sources attribute the paternity to Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, who the child resembled.
Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich also had a relationship with Countess Barbara Vorontzova-Daskova, née Orlova (1870, Paris -1915, Petrograd), the widow of Count Ivan Illarionovitch Vorontzov-Daskov (1866–1897). In 1908 she gave birth to a son, Alexander, in Switzerland. The father of Alexander seems to have been Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. Alexander (1908, Switzerland - 1979, New York) was adopted by a friend of his mother, Sophia Vladimirovna Dehn, whose grandmother was a daughter of Tsar Nicholas I
. He spent his childhood in Italy where his adopted father was on naval service. Alexander was a well-known artist and often showed his watercolors at American galleries. He married twice and died in the U.S.A in 1979.
and Germany
in 1913 Sergei Mikhailovich reported to the Government of the feverish work of military factories of the central European powers, but his warning about an imminent war was not heeded by the Russian ministers. In the summer of 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I
, Grand Duke Sergei was traveling near Lake Baikal
when he fell ill with rheumatic fever
in Chita. At his return to Mikhailovskoe, during the first days of autumn, his illness, complicated with pleurisy
took a severe form. He spent five months confined to bed before being pronounced fit enough to resume his duties. He was appointed inspector general of Artillery and was attached to the general headquarters, once making a trip to Archangel
to check on the munitions sent there by the allies.
As chief of the artillery department Grand Duke Sergei came under fire of the president of the Duma, Michael Rodzianko. Corruption and negligence were rampant at the artillery and there was a scandal over contracts. Kschessinskaya was accused of getting preferential orders for firms in pursuit of economic gains. The grand duke was blamed for not uncovering a band of thieves and protecting the dealings of his mistress. A special commission launched an investigation on the matter and in January 1916, Grand Duke Sergei had to resign as head of the artillery department. He was then appointed Field Inspector General of Artillery at Stavka
.
He was in a position to deal with Nicholas II every day, living in the same headquarters train with the Tsar. He was increasingly pessimistic about the outcome of the war for Russia but he could not assert any influence over Nicholas II who only trusted his wife Alexandra Feodorova who disliked Sergei Mikhailovich and had listed him among her enemies. The Tsarina following the rumors of corruption that had clouded Sergei’s reputation had pressed her husband to make Sergei Mikhailovich resign from the artillery department. The scandal over the bribes did not die down in the last period of Imperial Russia and Grand Duke Sergei spent nearly all his time at Stavka. He became more cautious in an attempt to distance himself from Kshessinskaya, who had used him in her quest for financial profit. About the outcome of the war, Grand Duke Sergei had no hope.
At the fall of the monarchy, Grand Duke Sergei was at Mogilev
in the company of Nicholas II when he had to abdicate. During the first months of the provisional government, Grand Duke Sergei remained in Mogilev in voluntary exile on the advice of his brother Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, because of the cloud of corruption that hung over him as a result of the Ksehesinskaya scandal. However, after twenty-two years of having a substitute of a family life with his mistress, he resisted pressure from his brother to break off all relations with Mathilde and her son.
Sergei Mikhailovich returned to Petrograd at the beginning of June 1917. He remained in the former Imperial capital during the period of the constitutional government, living with his brother Nicholas Mikhailovich in the New Michaelovsky Palace. Grand Duke Sergei proposed to Kschessinskaya. She, although caring for him, did not love him and refused. Instead, she decided to join Grand Duke Andrei in the Caucasus. On 13 July, Grand Duke Sergei went to the Nicholas Railway Station to say goodbye to Mathilde and her son.
of November 1917, the Petrograd newspapers published a decree summoning all male Romanovs to report to the dreaded Cheka
, the secret police. Initially they were just required not to leave the city. In March 1918, the Romanovs who registered were summoned again, now to be sent away into internal Russian exile. Sergei Mikhailovich was sent to Viatka
, a small town in the foothills of the Ural Mountains
. With suitcases in hand, the grand duke arrived at the Nicholas railway station on the afternoon of 4 April 1918. Sergei’s personal secretary, Fedor Remez (1878–1918), followed him in his exile. At seven that evening, the train pulled out of Petrograd headed east to Siberia. Grand Duke Sergei departed to his destiny in the company of his secretary, three sons of Grand Duke Konstantine Kosntantinovich
(Princes: Ivan
, Konstantine
and Igor
Konstantinovich) and Prince Vladimir Paley
, the son of the morganatic marriage of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich
. In Viatka, the Grand Duke was lodged in a different house from his much younger relatives. Although they all were virtually prisoners, they were allowed to walk freely around town, and could attend services at a local church. However, their situation changed after only eleven days.
On 30 April, Grand Duke Sergei, his secretary, and the other Romanovs with them were transferred to Yekaterinburg
by order of the Ural Regional Soviet. The journey lasted for thee days through the forest of the Urals. On 3 May 1918, the prisoners arrived in Yekaterinburg. They were housed at the Palace Royal Hotel on the city’s Voznesensky Prospekt. A few days later, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna
, sister of the Tsarina, joined them and they were all allowed a certain amount of freedom. Although the Tsar and Tsarina with their children were there nearby at the Ipatiev House
, they were unable to make contact. After two weeks, the Ural Regional Soviet decided once again to transfer Grand Duke Sergei and the other Romanovs in his group. On 18 May 1918, they were told that they were to be taken to the town of Alapayevsk
, in the northern Urals, 120 miles (193.1 km) from Yekaterinburg, and ordered to quickly pack. That same afternoon, they boarded a train and, two days later, arrived at their destination.
The Romanovs were placed in the Napolnaya School, on the fringe of the town. The school was small, consisting of only six rooms, the furniture basic but scanty. Each prisoner received an iron bed. They were allowed to move in to the desolate former schoolrooms and sort out their living arrangements on their own. Grand Duke Sergei shared a room with Feodor Remez and Prince Paley. Although the captives were under the strict guard of the Red Army
soldiers, they were allowed to walk in town, to talk to people and to go to church on feasts days. Preparing to spend a long time in Alapayevsk, they planted flowers and vegetable gardens near the school and spent many hours working there. On rainy days, the Romanovs read Russian novels to each other. Gradually, the regimen toughened and they were forbidden to take walks. The school was encircled with a barbed-wire fence and small trenches. Two weeks later, they were murdered.
At shaft # 7, the deepest and longest unused shaft, the carriages stopped. Blindfolded, the Romanovs were ordered to walk across a log placed over the 60 feet (18.3 m) mine. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovcih, the oldest man in the group, was the only one to disobey. He threw himself at the guards and they shot him to death immediately. His body was thrown into the shaft. His relatives were struck in the head and thrown into the deep shaft still alive. A couple of hand grenades were pitched in after that. The mouth of the mine was filled with dry brushwood and set it alight until there were no signs of life beneath the earth.
Identification of the Romanovs was made based on the clothing worn and by papers found in their pockets. The White Army investigators had no medical or dental records, and eleven weeks in the mine had substantially altered the victim's physical appearance. The autopsy revealed that Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich had a bruise on the left side of his head, but his death had been caused by a gunshot wound to the right side of his head.
After the autopsies were performed, the bodies of the Romanovs were washed, dressed in white shrouds, and placed in wooden coffins. There was a funeral service for them and they were interred in the crypt of the cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Alapayevsk. Eight months later, when it became clear that the White army was in retreat, the coffins were moved to Irkutsk
. There the coffins rested for less than six months, before the advance of the Red army forced their removal eastward. By April 1920, the coffins were in Beijing, where they were placed in the crypt of the chapel attached to the Russian Mission. The church was later demolished, though it is believed that the coffins are still in place, now buried beneath a parking area.
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
. He followed a military career and served as General Inspector of the Artillery with the rank of Adjutant General during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He was murdered by the Bolsheviks along with several other Romanovs relatives at Alapayevsk
Alapayevsk
Alapayevsk is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Neyva and Alapaikha Rivers. Population: 44,263 ; 50,060 ; 49,000 . The local church is named Saint Catherines....
on 18 July 1918, one day after the murder of Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
and his immediate family at Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
.
Early life
Grand Duke Sergei was born on 7 October 1869 at BorjomiBorjomi
Borjomi is a resort town in south-central Georgia with a population estimated at 14,445. It is one of the districts of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and is situated in the northwestern part of the region in the picturesque Borjomi Gorge on the eastern edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park...
, his father’s 200000 acres (809.4 km²) estate 90 miles (144.8 km) from Tiflis. He was the fifth son and sixth child of the seven children of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia was the fourth son and seventh child of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia...
and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna
Olga Feodorovna of Baden
Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna of Russia , was the wife of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaievich of Russia, the youngest son of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia...
, born Princess Cecile of Baden. Named Sergei after St. Sergius of Radonezh
Sergius of Radonezh
Venerable Sergius of Radonezh , also transliterated as Sergey Radonezhsky or Serge of Radonezh, was a spiritual leader and monastic reformer of medieval Russia. Together with Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most highly venerated saints.-Early life:The date of...
, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich spent his early years in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, until 1881 when his family moved to St Petersburg. Raised in strict and militaristic environment, he received little affection from his parents. His father, occupied in military and governmental endeavors, remained a distant figure. His demanding mother was a strict disciplinarian and cold towards her children.
Like his brothers, Sergei Mikhailovich was destined from birth to follow a military career. He was two weeks old when he was enrolled in a military unit that was named after him: the 153rd Infantry Vakusnkii Regiment of HIH Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich.
A Russian Grand Duke
Sergei Mikhailovich loved the military life and served in a number of regiments. Like his father, he was drawn towards ordinance and artillery. After graduating from the Mikhailovsky Artillery School, he started his military service in the Life Guard of the Cavalry Artillery Brigade.In 1891, he became aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to the Emperor and in 1899 was promoted to the rank of colonel. In 1904, he was made major general in the House Guards Artillery Brigade of the suite of the Tsar. He replaced his father in 1905 as Inspector General of Artillery, a post he held until 1915 when he was removed under controversy during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In 1908, he became adjutant General.
In 1914, he was promoted to the rank of General of Cavalry. From January 1916, he served as Field Inspector General of the Artillery until he resigned his military post at the fall of the monarchy.
Sergei Mikhailovich was tall, reaching six foot three, and was the only among Grand Duke Michael Nicholaievich’s children to inherit father’s blue eyes and blond hair. He became prematurely bald and was considered the least handsome of a very good-looking family.
He had a keen sense of the ridiculous, but was pessimistic, as influenced by his tutor Colonel Helmerson. He had the habit of saying “ tant pis!” (so much the worse!) to any bad news. Widely considered rude and moody, he was at the same time sincere, affectionate, loved simplicity and was easily accessible without class distinction.
Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich was, unlike his brothers, interested in mathematics and physics, which coincided with his fondness for artillery.
His only artistic inclination was choral singing, and he formed an amateur chorus of more than sixty voices, including some professional singers. They were directed by Kasatchenko, the master of the Imperial Theater. For a decade, the group met at Sergei’s palace every Monday evening from 8:00 pm to 10:30 pm before the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
stopped it.
Like his brothers George and Alexander, Sergei Mikhailovich was also fond of numismatics and gathered a large collection of coins. Like all the Grand Dukes, Sergei was immensely wealthy. Beside his Grand Ducal allowance of 200,000 roubles a year, he received the income from vast personal states, which include a hunting lodge 60 miles (96.6 km) from St Petersburg. At the death of his father in 1909, his wealth increased even further.
He remained a bachelor, living in the household of his father, and later with his eldest brother on the Neva: the new Michaelovsky Palace in St Petersburg. The halls and corridors were so vast that Sergei used a bicycle to visit his brothers Grand Dukes George
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (1863-1919)
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia was a son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a first cousin of Emperor Alexander III. He was a General in the Russian army in World War I...
and Nicholas Mikhailovich
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia , 26 April 1859 – 28 January 1919 was the eldest son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a first cousin of Alexander III....
who lived in other wings of the large Palace.
Ménage à trois
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia
Grand Duke Alexander Mihailovich of Russia, Александр Михайлович Aleksandr Mihailovits was a dynast of the Russian Empire, a naval officer, an author, explorer, the brother-in-law of Emperor Nicholas II, and an advisor of the said Emperor.-Biography: Alexander was born the son of Grand Duke...
. Traveling together to India, they had to stop their trip in Bombay in 1891 upon the sudden death of their mother. Both brothers fell in love with Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia was a daughter of Tsar Alexander III of Russia and the elder of Tsar Nicholas II two sisters. She married her cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikailovich of Russia, with whom she had seven children....
, their first cousin, once removed. She chose his brother over Sergei and married Alexander in 1894.
During the last year of Tsar Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
’s reign, Sergei and his brothers Alexander and George Mikhailovich were constant companions of the future Tsar, Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
. Their closeness ended with Nicholas' ascension to the throne and marriage.
When Nicholas II, then the Tsarevich, broke off with his mistress, the famous ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska
Mathilde Kschessinska
Mathilda-Marie Feliksovna Kschessinskaya She was known in the West as Mathilde Kschessinska or Matilda Kshesinskaya.- Life :Kschessinska was born at Ligovo, near Peterhof. Like all her Polish family, to whom she was known as Matylda Krzesińska, Mathilde performed at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre...
ya, he asked Sergei to take care of her. From 1894, Grand Duke Sergei, who was then 25 years old, became Kschessinskaya’s protector. He provided generously for his mistress. In 1895, the grand duke bought a dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
for her in Strelna
Strelna
Strelna is a municipal settlement in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, situated about halfway between St. Petersburg proper and Petergof and overlooking the shore of the Gulf of Finland...
. Kschessinskaya, who was ambitious, used her connections to the Romanovs to promote her career. Sergei, as president of the Imperial Theatres Society, took an active role in the ballet world to secure a prominent place for Kschessinskaya in the Imperial Ballet. Although Sergei was devoted to Mathilde, she was not in love with him and used him as a tool to fulfill her ambitions. He remained her devoted friend through to the end of his life. He never married and found in Mathilde’s company the substitute of a family life.
In February 1900 Kschessinskaya met, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimorovich
Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia
Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia was a Russian grand duke, the youngest son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna.-Biography:...
, who was a son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia ) was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia...
, Sergei’s first cousin. Mathilde fell in love with Andrei and soon they started a new relationship. Grand Duke Sergei tolerated their affair remaining a close and loyal friend to the famous ballerina, but the relationship between the two Grand Dukes was tense. They tried to avoid each other while sharing the same woman for almost two decades.
The ménage à trois
Ménage à trois
Ménage à trois is a French term which originally described a domestic arrangement in which three people having sexual relations occupy the same household – the phrase literally translates as "household of three"...
became more complicated when on 18 June 1902, Mathilde gave birth to a son. Both Grand Dukes were at first convinced they were the child’s father.
Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich also had a relationship with Countess Barbara Vorontzova-Daskova, née Orlova (1870, Paris -1915, Petrograd), the widow of Count Ivan Illarionovitch Vorontzov-Daskov (1866–1897). In 1908 she gave birth to a son, Alexander, in Switzerland. The father of Alexander seems to have been Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. Alexander (1908, Switzerland - 1979, New York) was adopted by a friend of his mother, Sophia Vladimirovna Dehn, whose grandmother was a daughter of Tsar Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
. He spent his childhood in Italy where his adopted father was on naval service. Alexander was a well-known artist and often showed his watercolors at American galleries. He married twice and died in the U.S.A in 1979.
War and revolution
After visits to AustriaAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
and Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in 1913 Sergei Mikhailovich reported to the Government of the feverish work of military factories of the central European powers, but his warning about an imminent war was not heeded by the Russian ministers. In the summer of 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Grand Duke Sergei was traveling near Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
when he fell ill with rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that occurs following a Streptococcus pyogenes infection, such as strep throat or scarlet fever. Believed to be caused by antibody cross-reactivity that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain, the illness typically develops two to three weeks after...
in Chita. At his return to Mikhailovskoe, during the first days of autumn, his illness, complicated with pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
took a severe form. He spent five months confined to bed before being pronounced fit enough to resume his duties. He was appointed inspector general of Artillery and was attached to the general headquarters, once making a trip to Archangel
Archangel
An archangel is an angel of high rank. Archangels are found in a number of religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism and by most Christians. Michael is the only archangel specifically named in the Protestant Bible...
to check on the munitions sent there by the allies.
As chief of the artillery department Grand Duke Sergei came under fire of the president of the Duma, Michael Rodzianko. Corruption and negligence were rampant at the artillery and there was a scandal over contracts. Kschessinskaya was accused of getting preferential orders for firms in pursuit of economic gains. The grand duke was blamed for not uncovering a band of thieves and protecting the dealings of his mistress. A special commission launched an investigation on the matter and in January 1916, Grand Duke Sergei had to resign as head of the artillery department. He was then appointed Field Inspector General of Artillery at Stavka
Stavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...
.
At the fall of the monarchy, Grand Duke Sergei was at Mogilev
Mogilev
Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...
in the company of Nicholas II when he had to abdicate. During the first months of the provisional government, Grand Duke Sergei remained in Mogilev in voluntary exile on the advice of his brother Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, because of the cloud of corruption that hung over him as a result of the Ksehesinskaya scandal. However, after twenty-two years of having a substitute of a family life with his mistress, he resisted pressure from his brother to break off all relations with Mathilde and her son.
Sergei Mikhailovich returned to Petrograd at the beginning of June 1917. He remained in the former Imperial capital during the period of the constitutional government, living with his brother Nicholas Mikhailovich in the New Michaelovsky Palace. Grand Duke Sergei proposed to Kschessinskaya. She, although caring for him, did not love him and refused. Instead, she decided to join Grand Duke Andrei in the Caucasus. On 13 July, Grand Duke Sergei went to the Nicholas Railway Station to say goodbye to Mathilde and her son.
Captivity
After the successful Bolshevik coupOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
of November 1917, the Petrograd newspapers published a decree summoning all male Romanovs to report to the dreaded Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
, the secret police. Initially they were just required not to leave the city. In March 1918, the Romanovs who registered were summoned again, now to be sent away into internal Russian exile. Sergei Mikhailovich was sent to Viatka
Kirov, Kirov Oblast
Kirov , formerly known as Vyatka and Khlynov, is a city in northeastern European Russia, on the Vyatka River, and the administrative center of Kirov Oblast. Population: -History:...
, a small town in the foothills of the Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
. With suitcases in hand, the grand duke arrived at the Nicholas railway station on the afternoon of 4 April 1918. Sergei’s personal secretary, Fedor Remez (1878–1918), followed him in his exile. At seven that evening, the train pulled out of Petrograd headed east to Siberia. Grand Duke Sergei departed to his destiny in the company of his secretary, three sons of Grand Duke Konstantine Kosntantinovich
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia
Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia was a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, and a poet and playwright of some renown...
(Princes: Ivan
Prince Ioann Konstantinovich of Russia
Prince John Constantinovich of Russia , sometimes also known as Prince Ioann, Prince Ivan or Prince Johan, was the eldest son of Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia by his wife Elisaveta Mavrikievna, née Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg...
, Konstantine
Prince Konstantine Konstantinovich of Russia
Prince Constantine Constantinovich of Russia , nicknamed Kostia by the family, was the fourth child of Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia by his wife Elisbeth Mavrikievna née HH Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg.The Prince was a silent, shy person who fancied theatre and was...
and Igor
Prince Igor Konstantinovich of Russia
Prince Igor Constantinovich of Russia , was the sixth child of HIH Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia by his wife Elisaveta Mavrikievna née HH Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg....
Konstantinovich) and Prince Vladimir Paley
Vladimir Pavlovich Paley
HSH Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley was a Russian poet.Prince Vladimir was born Vladimir von Pistohlkors in Saint Petersburg, Russia...
, the son of the morganatic marriage of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich
Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia was the eighth child of Tsar Alexander II of Russia by his first wife Empress Maria Alexandrovna. His birth was commemorated by the naming of the city of Pavlodar in Kazakhstan...
. In Viatka, the Grand Duke was lodged in a different house from his much younger relatives. Although they all were virtually prisoners, they were allowed to walk freely around town, and could attend services at a local church. However, their situation changed after only eleven days.
On 30 April, Grand Duke Sergei, his secretary, and the other Romanovs with them were transferred to Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
by order of the Ural Regional Soviet. The journey lasted for thee days through the forest of the Urals. On 3 May 1918, the prisoners arrived in Yekaterinburg. They were housed at the Palace Royal Hotel on the city’s Voznesensky Prospekt. A few days later, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia canonized as St. Elizabeth Romanova was a German princess of the House of Hesse, and the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, fifth son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and the Rhine...
, sister of the Tsarina, joined them and they were all allowed a certain amount of freedom. Although the Tsar and Tsarina with their children were there nearby at the Ipatiev House
Ipatiev House
Ipatiev House was a merchant's house in Yekaterinburg where the former Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, his family and members of his household were executed following the Bolshevik Revolution...
, they were unable to make contact. After two weeks, the Ural Regional Soviet decided once again to transfer Grand Duke Sergei and the other Romanovs in his group. On 18 May 1918, they were told that they were to be taken to the town of Alapayevsk
Alapayevsk
Alapayevsk is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Neyva and Alapaikha Rivers. Population: 44,263 ; 50,060 ; 49,000 . The local church is named Saint Catherines....
, in the northern Urals, 120 miles (193.1 km) from Yekaterinburg, and ordered to quickly pack. That same afternoon, they boarded a train and, two days later, arrived at their destination.
The Romanovs were placed in the Napolnaya School, on the fringe of the town. The school was small, consisting of only six rooms, the furniture basic but scanty. Each prisoner received an iron bed. They were allowed to move in to the desolate former schoolrooms and sort out their living arrangements on their own. Grand Duke Sergei shared a room with Feodor Remez and Prince Paley. Although the captives were under the strict guard of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
soldiers, they were allowed to walk in town, to talk to people and to go to church on feasts days. Preparing to spend a long time in Alapayevsk, they planted flowers and vegetable gardens near the school and spent many hours working there. On rainy days, the Romanovs read Russian novels to each other. Gradually, the regimen toughened and they were forbidden to take walks. The school was encircled with a barbed-wire fence and small trenches. Two weeks later, they were murdered.
Murder
There exists an eyewitness account of the murders of the Romanov group in Alapayevsk, related by one of the local Bolsheviks, Vasisili Ryabov. He later recalled:“It was night of the 17th to 18th July, 1918. When we were sure the whole town was asleep, we quietly stole through the window into the school building. Nobody there noticed our presence, they were already all asleep. We entered through the unlocked door into the building where the women were sleeping, and woke them up, telling them quietly to get dressed at once, as they were to be taken to a safe place because of the possibility of an armed attack. They obeyed silently. We tied their hands behind their backs there and then, blindfolded them, and let them out to the cart, which was already waiting by the school, sat them in it, and sent them off to their destination. After that, we went into the room occupied by the men. We told them the same story as we had told the women. The young princes Konstantinovich (KR's sons) and Prince Paley also obeyed meekly. We took them out into the corridor, blindfolded them, bound their hands behind their backs, and put them in another cart. We had earlier decided that the carts should not go together. The only one to try to oppose us was Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. Physically he was stronger than the rest. We had to grapple with him. He told us categorically that he was not going anywhere, as he knew they all were going to be killed. He barricaded himself behind the cupboard and our efforts to get him out were in vain. We lost precious time. I finally lost my patience and shot at the Grand Duke. However, I only fired with the intention of wounding him slightly and frightening him into submission. I wounded him in the arm. He did not resist further. I bound his hand and covered his eyes. We put him in the last cart and set off. We were in a great hurry: already the dawn was heralding morning. Along the way, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich again repeated that he knew they were all going to be killed. “ Tell me why? He asked. “ I have never been involved in politics. I loved sports, played billiards, and was interested in numismatics. “ I reassured him as best as I could. although I was very agitated myself by everything I have been through that night. Despite his wounded arm, the Grand Duke did not complain. At last, we arrived at the mine. The shaft was not very deep and as it turned out had a ledge on one side that was not covered by water.”
At shaft # 7, the deepest and longest unused shaft, the carriages stopped. Blindfolded, the Romanovs were ordered to walk across a log placed over the 60 feet (18.3 m) mine. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovcih, the oldest man in the group, was the only one to disobey. He threw himself at the guards and they shot him to death immediately. His body was thrown into the shaft. His relatives were struck in the head and thrown into the deep shaft still alive. A couple of hand grenades were pitched in after that. The mouth of the mine was filled with dry brushwood and set it alight until there were no signs of life beneath the earth.
Aftermath
On 28 September 1918, the White Army captured Alapayevsk, hoping to rescue the prisoners from the school building. Some local peasants directed the investigators of the Romanovs disappearance to the abandoned mine. On 8 October, they began to retrieve the bodies from the shaft. The body of Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich was rescued two days later.Identification of the Romanovs was made based on the clothing worn and by papers found in their pockets. The White Army investigators had no medical or dental records, and eleven weeks in the mine had substantially altered the victim's physical appearance. The autopsy revealed that Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich had a bruise on the left side of his head, but his death had been caused by a gunshot wound to the right side of his head.
After the autopsies were performed, the bodies of the Romanovs were washed, dressed in white shrouds, and placed in wooden coffins. There was a funeral service for them and they were interred in the crypt of the cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Alapayevsk. Eight months later, when it became clear that the White army was in retreat, the coffins were moved to Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
. There the coffins rested for less than six months, before the advance of the Red army forced their removal eastward. By April 1920, the coffins were in Beijing, where they were placed in the crypt of the chapel attached to the Russian Mission. The church was later demolished, though it is believed that the coffins are still in place, now buried beneath a parking area.
Ancestry
See also
- Romanov sainthoodRomanov sainthoodTsar Nicholas II of Russia, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei are saints of the Orthodox Church...